I’m so excited to be sharing a blog hop with y’all today! As some of you know, I’ve been so fortunate to be a part of Kristen Welch’s (We are THAT family) new book launch team for #RaisingGratefulKids and some of us have joined up to put all of our thoughts on gratefulness in to one huge blog hop so you can “hop” from one blog to the next.

These ladies are amazing wives, moms, writers, givers and doers…The links are at the bottom of this post. Don’t forget to use #RaisingGratefulKids when you visit the blog hop!

If you had told me a year ago today I would soon be purposely choosing to be grateful in the midst of the struggle 2015 was…and if looks really could kill…well, you probably wouldn’t be reading this right now.

A year ago today I had dropped Rob off at rehab and given up on any of the dreams I’d had for 2015.

A year ago today I tried to be grateful that we found a place that didn’t have a waiting list…that was long term…that Rob agreed to go to.

It was not a situation I was grateful for. It was not how I would have chosen to spend the last 12 months…My husband in rehab for alcoholism, 10 minute phone calls a few times a month…monthly weekend visits…two trips to bring him home for a few days…solo parenting our girls…struggling to pay bills…struggling to function some days…

I didn’t try very hard, but I tried.

Fast forward a month…Valentines Day…spent making 60 treat bags, picking up a cake, driving to take it all to rehab…By chance getting to see him, talk to him.

This is where my journey of choosing gratitude began.

It was easy to be angry…hurt…resentful…

Those feelings seemed acceptable and expected.

I could have spent 2015 allowing those emotions to control me. I don’t think many would have blamed me.

Choosing gratitude isn’t easy…not for me at least. I know others who do it so well.

I used to want whatever it was they have that makes it easy for them to be grateful in spite of their circumstances.

Now I know what they have. What I have. What we all have.

The choice to be grateful. Making the decision each day to choose gratitude. Not to let situations, relationships, struggles…define and destroy our joy.

I fail at choosing gratitude daily. Just this weekend I failed in a big way.

Things happen that overwhelm us and instead of stopping to realize we can still choose gratitude in the middle of the hard, we give in to the negative.

People disappoint us. Situations out of our control worry us. Bills seem to grow monthly. We lose people we love. Friendships dissipate. Work stresses us. Husbands relapse.

Deciding to choose gratitude does not make any of these things not happen.

Some days, it doesn’t even make dealing with the unexpected easier.

Some days though, it does.

Some days, when it’s Valentines Day and you miss your husband and you’re mad at him for relapsing and maybe you’re mad at God…

And maybe you haven’t quite chosen to be grateful yet because you can’t see a single thing to be grateful for…

Some days God gives you some really beautiful, unexpected joys…

An unexpected visit with your husband…where he tells you he loves you and he’s sorry and he’s doing everything he can to make sure this is the last time you have to go through this.

60 treat bags and a cake that you didn’t really have money for, but you did it anyway and then worried these grown men would think it was all silly…but they didn’t think it was silly at all. And it made a difference to some people who felt thrown away and forgotten by the world.

A box of chocolates from friends who didn’t want you to feel forgotten on Valentines day.

And in the middle of all this, you make a decision. You decide to choose gratitude. For the good things…for the hard things…for the everyday, mundane things…

You decide because the best way to teach your kids to be grateful is to model choosing to be grateful when it’s hard and honestly, it’s the last thing you want to choose.

You still forget and give in to the old feelings sometimes…but it doesn’t take you as long anymore to bounce back and remember that while it may be easier to hold on to anger and injustice and hurt…it’s not who you are anymore.

You made a choice to be grateful…in the good…in the beautiful…in the hard…

And that, my friend, will make all the difference. In you, in your family, in your kids, in the world…

Have you pre-ordered Raising Grateful Kids yet? Launch date is January 26th, so hurry and pre-order from http://www.raisinggratefulkids.com or Amazon, Barnes and Noble or any of your favorite book retailers. You’ll love the truth you find in this book!

Thank you for your honesty and transparency in sharing this! It reminds me of the quote toward the end of Kristen’s book, “Choosing to be thankful in these hard places—this is what sets us free.” Love this.

“The choice to be grateful. Making the decision each day to choose gratitude. Not to let situations, relationships, struggles…define and destroy our joy.” Oh.My.Gosh. My joy was destroyed today…and I chose to let a situation destroy it. Thanks for the gentle reminder. Hopefully tomorrow I won’t let that happen.